Training Old School Style

I thought this would be a good time to lay down what the training schedule has been for IM this year, since I'm doing it "self-coached." What I've noticed to be the trend as of late in IM training is that "less is more" or, that is to say, training 20+ hours a week seems to be old school and that the coaches on the pointy end of things are suggesting as little as 10 hours a week nowadays. Though, the decrease in volume does call for an emphasis on quality rather than quality, and I suspect the latest in these new programs has no room for "trash mileage."

I like the notion, and it certainly has its benefits when you consider the bulk of us are trying to fit a full-time career, spouses, perhaps kids, and whatever else into our lives. However, I wasn't ready for this approach here in my 3rd Ironman attempt, and first at trying to get a qualifying slot to Kona. But since I have the time to dedicate to it, I wanted to see if I could handle a high volume training load and felt it would give me more confidence by race morning. So, when I contemplated my approach to this Ironman I put into the program a 4 month plan broken up as follows: 60 hours, 80 hours, 80 hours, 60 hours.......by month. I've since leaned more towards counting hours by weeks, but essentially I'm following the same theme. I didn't get 80 hours in April (totaled 77) and I doubt I'll get 80 in May - having to be flexible around work, and throwing a taper in for White Lake Half Iron did rob me of a few hours. But for the most part I'm nailing the original plan while being flexible enough to modify it as necessary on the fly.

I'm finding that so far, the body is accepting the high volume training and so far I've been able to meet the demands of every workout without feeling that I'm overtraining and, thank God, without injury at this point. Let's hope this continues!

If you're interested in seeing the detailed layout of my workout plan, let me know, but I will post an abridged version for the sake of sharing the gist of this operation:

Monday (active recovery): conventional weights during lunch break, long swim after work (usually 4000 yards), recovery run

Tuesday: swim during lunch break, after work bike (intervals), run (marathon pace), short functional strength workout

Wednesday: swim during lunch break, speed or strength run after work, short core workout

Thurday: metabolic affect strength workout at lunch, intensive bike after work, short run with fartleks

Friday: off, or at most, a short, easy swim and some yoga

Saturday: long brick - 100 or more miles followed by 6 or more mile run, sometimes swim afternoon

Sunday: long run, recovery bike ride, yoga

I've mentioned the modified Hanson plan for my running program. Here's how the run program looks:



Note that week 11 looks a little odd because that was taper week for White Lake Half Iron. For me, this is very high mileage running. And in its originality, it was intended to be strictly a marathon plan. So, finding a way to weave it in amongst all the swimming and biking took some creativity. Anyway, that's the gist of it. Gotta go get lunch at Sakura now. Thanks for reading.....